The superb pianist Angela Hewitt was scheduled to arrive in Durham a day ahead of her Feb. 17 recital, but weather delays kept her in Toronto until just five hours before the Duke concert. That did not seem to flurry this international artist, who gave a performance very close to perfection.

Half-jokingly, I keep a list of my top-ten lifetime music experiences. Naturally, the list is continually revised. Some concerts will probably never be bumped — Janis Joplin in the spring of 1969; Piedmont bluesman Willie Trice with his National steel guitar laid across his legless lap in UNC’s Gerard Hall — but something’s got to come off to make room for the Angela Hewitt piano recital presented by Duke Performances in Reynolds Theater. She performed her program of Bach and Debussy, so intelligent and well-constructed, with gleaming elegance and delicate emotionality, but there was something more — the joyous magic that occurs between a virtuoso musician and an attentive audience. The room was radiant with all the colors of music-love. This was my first experience of Hewitt live, and maybe she does this each time she performs, but it felt rare and wondrous….

Hewitt’s website is unusually attractive, with its blog-entry homepage and good organization. For something to dream on during a dreary February day, visit the tab/link to the Trasimeno music festival she organizes in Umbria, where she lives part of the year.